Stanley Schminski

Era: World War II

Military Branch: Army

Stanley Schminski was inducted into the Army on April 10, 1942.

He served as a Sergeant with the Fifth Army in Tunisia, Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, Southern France, and with the Seventh Army in Central Europe, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Germany. He served with the Army of Occupation.

He recalls; "On November 6, 1943, we landed south of Naples (Italy)....The weather was bad; there was lots of rain and the roads were mudded...the going was slow. The Germans put up a good fight....On May 11, 1944 at midnight...all hell broke out. The Fifth Army made the big move. We shelled and bombed the Germans for four hours and broke their lines. We moved to Rome one day at a time...on June 8th....then we moved to Pisa, then back to Naples."

"We loaded on boats on September 6, 1944, for France. We landed in southern France and moved north to Paris. Got leave to England....Saw lots of England, then back to France. We were in the Seventh Army, General (Alexander M.) Patch was in command. We moved through the Alsatian plains to Strassbourg. Lots of shelling and bombing, cold weather, snow and rain. We crossed Rhine River at Bridge Hageman and moved north on the Autobahn to Stuttgart. On May 4, 1945, Hitler died. On May 8, Germany surrendered....On October 5, I moved to LaHavre, France, to be shipped home...Landed in New York October 8. I was discharged from the Army Oct. 25, 1945."

Source: Hometown Heroes: The Saint Louis County World War II Project, 284.